The Voice
by fateblurred
Summary: Challenge fic for livejournal. Is Ni's hearing playing a trick on him?


Title: The Voice

Fandom: Saiyuki

Characters: Dr. Ni & Kougaiji

Prompt: 46 - Call

Word Count: 1,284

Rating: PG

Summary: Set early on in the series, but contains vague series spoilers. Is Ni's hearing playing a trick on him?

"Did you say something?" Ni asked the demon scientist as he turned from his computer, frowning.

The creature swiveled in his chair to face the human, the wires connected to his head shifting. "Nope. Not even a peep."

"Oh," Ni answered as he watched the demon turn back to his console. It was so strange. For the past few days, the scientist could have sworn that he heard a voice calling out to him off and on, periodically shattering his normally unshakable concentration. This situation was really becoming bothersome.

Leaning against the desk on an elbow, Ni rested his face on his upturned hand. He stared at his stuffed bunny with its sewn-on faint smile. "I know it can't be you that's been calling all this time," the man told the rabbit as it looked at him. "You've never had a voice that I haven't given to you." Ni groaned as the sound began to echo once more in his head, only louder this time.

"Dr. Ni!" Dr. Huang shouted as she stamped her foot, the click of her high heeled shoe echoing in the room. "I'm talking to you! You can ignore me all you like, but you still have to look at these test results!"

Ni turned to her, a curious look on his face. "What? I couldn't hear you with all the noise."

"Noise? What are you talking about?"

The demon turned away from his console long enough to look at her. "He's been hearing voices."

Dr. Huang sighed heavily. "So you've finally lost it, Dr. Ni?"

"No," he answered, rising from his chair. "I went mad ages ago." He grasped his bunny before making his way to the door.

"Where are you going? We've still got tests to run!" Dr. Huang called after him.

Ni waved at her over his shoulder as he continued to stride out into the hallway. "I'm sure that you can manage without me. I've got a tea party that I have to go to."

"Dr. Ni! Honestly!" Dr. Huang remarked. She'd never understand what went on inside of that head of his.

Standing at the entrance to the terrace overlooking the darkened land, Ni sighed. He'd had a feeling about the source of the voice calling to him, but hadn't wanted to admit it. Ni also didn't want to think about the implications of such a thing, remembering the words of a friend long since departed. This really _was_ turning out to be troublesome. Pushing up his glasses, the scientist strode out toward the demon who sat on the stone floor of the terrace cross-legged, taking a stance nearby.

Leaning on the stone pillar adjacent to him, Ni remarked, "It's a lovely night, isn't it?"

Surprised, Kougaiji turned to look up at him. "What are you doing here, Ni?" The demon had been so lost in thought that he hadn't heard the human approach, something which didn't sit well with him.

"Oh, I just figured that I'd take a little stroll," Ni answered as he retrieved a pack of cigarettes from his pocket. Kougaiji watched the human pluck one from the pack with his lips before striking a match to light it. He watched the man's cheeks hollow slightly as he drew in a breath of heated air. "Am I bothering you, Prince?" Ni asked, gazing down into violet after expelling the puff of smoke.

"N-no," Kougaiji replied after a moment, distracted by the man's dark eyes. The demon turned back to look at the night. "You can roam this place as you please. You already do. What's it to me?"

Taking in the sullen voice, Ni held up the bunny, speaking to it. "The prince is rather grumpy tonight. Maybe something else is bothering him."

Kougaiji turned slightly to eye the man who had sunken down to sit on the stone ground, leaning against the pillar as he cradled the stuffed animal. "It's nothing for you to be concerned about."

"Oh."

The pair sat in silence for a few moments before the prince started to speak again. "We're no closer to success than we were months ago," Kougaiji stated. "Sometimes I even wonder if we'll ever be successful."

Ni expelled another breath of smoke. "I don't know," he said, toying with the cigarette that he held between his fingers, "I've never been much of an optimist, but I've never thought it useful to dwell on one's failures. It's more useful to focus on what one wants to achieve."

Kougaiji made a noncommittal sound. "I suppose that you have a point." Violet eyes gazed up into the night, a faint sad smile gracing his face. "It's just that… I've often wondered what Mother would do if she were me. She always seemed to know the right thing to do…"

"Hmm. Mothers do seem to have a special sort of wisdom," Ni remarked.

Kougaiji nodded. "She was always the one that protected me, and I always thought that when I grew older, that I'd be the strong one, that I'd protect her instead. I can't even do that. I can't even save her, and here I am wondering what _she_ would do."

Ni didn't answer as he watched the demon, surprised at himself for being touched somehow by the emotion that the prince was trying to express.

"Sometimes, it haunts me that I might not be the kind of ruler that she wanted me to be, that I'm not strong enough to save her or anyone else." Kougaiji frowned, his eyes falling to gaze at the hands clasped in his lap. He started again in a low voice. "Sometimes I feel so…"

"Lost," Ni finished for him.

"Yeah."

Ni was silent a moment, taking a last drag on his cigarette before stubbing it out on the stone floor next to him. Then he rose, his lab coat tossed by the gentle breeze. "Strength isn't something that can just be granted to someone. It has to be taken, fought for. The precious memories that we have can lend comfort when we're alone in the night, but they are only that, memories. We have to have the will to make our own way in this world, and it's the strength of that will that determines if we rise or fall."

Kougaiji gazed up at Ni, mildly surprised. "I've never heard a scientist talk like that."

Ni looked down at him, wearing a faint smile as he pushed up his glasses with one finger before turning to head back inside. "I wasn't always a scientist."

"Then what were you before?"

The man's smile widened as he paused to gaze at the prince over his shoulder. "It's a secret," he said, holding a finger to his lips.

Making his way back into the palace, Ni heard approaching footsteps behind him and soon, the prince was walking beside him. Kougaiji looked slightly self-conscious as he found himself examined by Ni's dark eyes.

"It was getting cold," the demon said in explanation, "so I decided to come inside."

Ni grinned knowingly. "It _had_ started to get a little chilly," he said in agreement, his voice laced with humor. Realizing that the corridor leading to Kougaiji's room was in the other direction, Ni remarked as he eyed the prince, "If I didn't know better, I'd think that you were following me."

"Don't be silly!" Kougaiji answered, not able to cover up all of his embarrassment over being found out. "I just figured that I'd walk with you since it was on my way."

Ni's dark eyes glittered, his crooked smile still in place. "Then I'm honored to have your company, Your Highness."

The pair trailed down the corridor into the darkness.

End


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